What a difficult dilemma, and I'm sorry you have to face this, along with such a combative distant relative. Myself and my siblings will be in a similar situation soon, with sentimentality weighing in heavily.

If you invested in repairs, what would you do with the home? Would you live there? Rent it? If the former, then I would consider it, although it seems by the photo that development is encroaching on the property. I would not like to live in that type of environment.

If you rented it, then... well... it would lose, for me, some of its sentimental value as a rental property being used by others.

If it were mine, and I wasn't planning on living there, I would go through and salvage items--wood beams, window panes, trim, the lawn jockeys, etc. and perhaps recycle or otherwise keep them in meaningful ways. Even the landscaping--if there are plantings you can transplant for your own. Do what you can to take away objects that will represent the property and its history for you. Then, I would sell.

An emotional connection to a house, or anything for that matter, is tough. I would step back and look at all of the options. Perhaps get an appraisal ($) or have a realtor provide a market analysis (free). This will help you determine if buying out the relative's share is feasible. You can then look at if you sold the property how the money would help you -- perhaps pay off some debt, take a well-deserved vacation, etc.

Personally, I would sell the property with all of the issues that you listed. I'm sure your grandparents never intended for you to be burdened with this decision. They would have wanted you to be happy.

alex. I don't envy your decision. ots a cute place, and you obviously have a ton of sentiment attached.
but, if you can't live there, my decision would be to sell it. let someone else enjoy it.
take a lot of photos, and keep those memories.
good luck with a very difficult decision.

@Feathers11: I hope when you have to deal with a similar situation that it won't be too combative. In my case, it isn't so much of a combative issue as much as it just seems like she wants to cash-out from a situation that, quite honestly, she wasn't really involved with. My dad (who my grandparents really wanted to benefit) wasn't very close with this distant relative, and were it not for his suspect and untimely death, he ultimately would have inherited the property and this wouldn't even be an issue. This should have been his home, and that was taken away from him.

You are correct that development is encroaching. That picture was taken about five years ago. Here is how the streetscape looks now:

Despite the redevelopment, the neighborhood is still decent. But clearly you can see why a consent to sell decision is so difficult for me.

I couldn't realistically salvage the wood beams (I believe they are hand hewn ash logs) because they serve as the floor joists. I definitely would have A LOT of other items to move out of here. Don't let the diminutive size fool you, this place is packed!

Renting it would be a great option as I feel it would provide an affordable rental for a decent person or small family. Sadly, the conditions I enumerated would make it impossible to rent without significant repairs and updates, the mold likely presenting the most adverse challenge. I can deal with the property as is, but I'm weird like that, lol.

@annied75: My grandmother, a wonderful lady, certainly would have wanted me to be happy. My granddad, while I respect his service in WW2 and the extraordinary work he did in this house, probably enjoys my current plight from the furnace-like environment he's looking up from. The efforts of this distant relative who persuaded my granddad to make this mess caused nothing but aggravation for both my dad and now me. My granddad actually wanted my dad to inherit this house but he was tricked into believing a different outcome would be realized.

The lesson I learned is as follows: When you have a will, if there is ANYTHING you do not understand either before or after you execute it, ask your attorney specific questions. If they answer ambiguously or you don't understand, spend a few bucks by shopping the will to another lawyer and ask them to interpret. It's well worth the money, and you won't inflict harm and stress upon your descendants.

Have you been contacted by local developers who might want the property? If so, how would you feel about striking a deal that includes deconstructing the home so that it can be reused? You might find someone who specializes in salvaging materials from historic properties. Just a thought. Good luck, Alex. I'm sure your parents and grandparents would understand your dilemma and agree with whatever you decide.

You are in a tough situation. I would also post this in the buying and selling homes forum, where there are a lot of real estate pros who can take an unbiased look at your situation and may know of a way out that regular folks might not think of:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/buying-and-selling-homes-dsbr0-bd~t_29841

This is a tough situation for sure. Since it needs a lot of repairs and it looks very much like a lot of new buildings in that area, you can be sure, no one would be buying to live in, they would be buying to demolish and put up an apartment building, or something else on the lot. Do you live there? If so, and you really do want to keep it and live there, then maybe forget about cosmetic updates, and put any money you can afford into fixing the structure, so it is more stable, and also doing somethng about the mold. It isnt safe for you, or anyone else, and particularly anyone with children to live in those conditions. Then just keep refusing to sell. They cant sell without your say so. Only you, can make this decision, in the best interest of yourself.

I love old houses, and it breaks my heart to see one lost, but I fear this one is doomed. Not because of its condition, but because of the neighborhood. Your house seems to be the last man standing from the old guard.

It's just a matter of time. No matter who owns it, that house is eventually going to be demolished to make way for new construction.

Depending on what local laws allow, it's even possible that at some point the city will let a developer take it with eminent domain. Improving the tax base is a public service, don't you know. :(

The good news is that you probably have a valuable piece of land there. Harvest some memories, and then sell it. Don't sell it too cheaply, but also don't hold on to it so long that it deteriorates further and becomes a public nuisance.

Good luck.

When deciding how to proceed, don't forget to consider the risk that local government regulations may change. As you are already surrounded by commercial development, your property will eventually become a commercial site as well.

When traffic patterns change and streets get designated as arterial streets, the regulations about curb cuts and entrances close to intersections may make the property difficult to develop. I know of one corner in my city where one corner lot is vacant because it is part of the residential subdivision behind it. The city won't permit a residential driveway and the subdivision property owners won't agree to changing zoning to permit commercial development.

Opposite that lot is a large 1930s house which has lost one of its driveway entrances and the redevelopment potential requires the owners to combine that parcel with the adjoining one which they also own to meet new minimum lot size requirements. The owner is a real estate attorney and has been very proactive by keeping up with city plans and registering opposition if regulations threaten future options.

Things have a life span. It seems this sweet home has had a great life, and contributed greatly to your relatives' (and others') happiness. It was loved and well cared for at one time, but it seems that it may have reached the place where trying to hold on to it, by restoring or even making repairs is not the best decision. That in no way dishonors your grandparents or father; their time in the home has ended.

I might feel differently if there wasn't commercial property encroaching, but the neighborhood will change and it won't be as desirable for a family home. If you explore selling the property to a developer, you could retain rights to the house and see if someone would move it or disassemble the logs and reassemble on a different lot. Lots of people want tiny houses and someone might be thrilled with this one for the right price.

Sounds like a money pit. Sell it and move on.

I would not spend my life trying to make dead people happy. Not all log cabins can be preserved, especially when the water table is rising enough to cause considerable mold.

I'm going to look at this from a slightly different perspective:

Sometimes being forced to sell a property like this is a blessing in disguise. We sometimes become so attached to our family after they are gone that we forget to live our OWN lives. apple_pie_order said it, don't spend your life trying to make dead people happy.

It's ok to have some sentimental attachments. It's not ok when those attachments have us making bad life decisions. Keeping this house would be a bad life decision on multiple fronts:

1. You clearly can't afford to buy-out the co-owner and the extensive repairs that are needed. No shame or blame, but it's good to have a clear-headed idea of the total cost of keeping this home vs your resources.

2. The neighborhood has changed so completely that it's no longer hospitable for that property.

3. There is no longer any "intrinsic value" in the house as a log cabin. It has been so re-muddled and architecturally bastardized that the only value is the novelty of saying "there's a log cabin under all that". I know this is a shock to you, but it wasn't "lovingly restored..." what was done was a "modernization / re-muddle" job. A log cabin was turned into a 1950-60's suburban house complete with an attached garage and kitschy lawn decor. This was the style of that time and what the owners wanted. It's cute and has character - but it's not a "lovingly restored log cabin" by any stretch of the imagination.

4. Keeping the house would require major changes / sacrifices to your life: You would have to live with mold/decay/structural dysfunction or you would need to make life changes to create the income to rehab it. If you don't sell, those are your choices. It's not rent-able as-is either.

5. I feel pretty certain that this property would not ever be viable financially as a single family home. Investing in repairs and maintenance would not ever result in a property that would appreciate and be marketable at some point in the future. It will always be a tear-down.

6. The co-ownership has created a potential legal minefield (see below).

7. Most of all, I think the weight of the sentimental attachment, and the history behind the will and how that went down, is crippling you.

BTW: I also think you have a potential legal problem that you need to resolve.

On the one hand it's not reasonable that the minority owner should have the proceeds of the sale without his/her share of the cost of maintaining the asset.

On the other hand, they are likely to say "You have had the benefit of living there all this time for free".

As a co-owners, an argument could be made that you both are entitled to a portion of the benefit of holding the asset, "rent", and a portion of the expenses that corresponds to your ownership. You should have a clear understanding of how this shakes out - and you need to do that soon.

I think you need to determine fair market value for "rent" for the time that you have lived there as a co-owner given the condition of the home. Then I think that you need to calculate taxes, insurance, and maintenance/upkeep and balance that against the "rent".

This "rent" / expense sharing agreement should have been formalized in writing when you became co-owners. You don't want to get to some future date owing your co-owner a significantly greater portion of the proceeds of the eventual sale.

This isn't an issue if the will stated that you could remain in the house without consideration. But my guess is that all of this has just happened over time rather than through formal agreement.

I think that the decision about the fate of this property was already decided when you became co-owner with someone else. Since he/she has expressed a strong desire to sell, you need to either buy his interest out or you need to sell at market price. There is no option "C".

Furthermore, I think the co-owner situation, assuming there isn't a formal rent/expense sharing agreement and formal ownership agreement, is a potential legal mess that you need to extricate yourself from while there is still some goodwill between you. If it goes sour and involves adversarial lawyers it could turn out badly for you.

@Alex- Please post an update when you are ready. I hope you find a solution you are happy with.

I am curious about the log cabin which is somewhere inside all the stuff that's been added on to it, how easy or hard would it be to get to it and whether its pretty much intact .... or not. It might be in pretty good shape if its been protected from the elements. Theres places that deconstruct log cabins and sell the parts as a kit to be put together in another location like Lincoln logs. That would have some value to someone - maybe even you! You could store it somewhere and then reconstruct it later when you had some land somewhere else.

Ive found in life that when I cant make up my mind, that means I just need to get more information. If I were you Id get a better sense of what exactly you have there and what kind of prices you could get for land and/or historic parts of the bldg, and what else might you be able to get with the money that might suit you better.

I know how hard it is though - there was a 1912 farmhouse that was old family homestead -b uilt by my grandfather- where we used to spend summers as kids. When it was sold I really felt the loss very keenly. Yeah, its just a house.... but its a house where lives were lived! Of course theres a b ond and an emotion there..

I was in a (sort of) similar situation. My brother, sisters and I inherited my parents lakeside property and cottage, which had been in the family since 1874. One of my siblings wanted to keep it, one could not use it because it was too far away for her. Two of us wanted to sell. The cottage had been extended in 1988 and it's days were numbered - too much work and money to repair it. In the end we all agreed to sell (we got 3 appraisals) and that allowed us all to move on with our own dreams. We are all grateful to my parents for what we were able to receive. And we don't have the stress of dealing with each other over this property - our relationships have improved. It was a sad day when we said goodbye to the property, we had spent our childhood summers there.

I don’t know about where you are, but in my state a co-owner can FORCE the sale of property in order to cash out their value. I believe it’s called File for Division. It happens all the time, especially here in rural America and family farms. We have a good friend who lived and worked on the family farm for 35 years. The death of an older relative caused the property to move down to co-owners, and our friends’ own BROTHER forced the sale. Our friends had to move out.

I agree with those who said don’t spend your life trying to make dead people happy. And no matter how hard you might try, you can’t fight Father Time.

What did you end up doing? There are people who purchase and then dismantle old log cabins. So you could sell the house separately from the land. Most likely a developer would want the land and an old house specialist the timbers, so the house wouldn't be destroyed, just taken apart and moved.